The induction of electricity by appropriate and relative motion between magnetic flux and a conductor was demonstrated by Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry in 1831. Faraday's experiments during October of that year discovered that a translating or moving magnet through a coiled loop of wire created electric current in an attached circuit. He called this newly discovered phenomenon between changing magnetism and an induction circuit “electromagnetic induction”. He also proposed the idea of “lines of magnetic force” to help explain the process of induction. His discoveries, along with the experiments of other early electricity researchers, provided the basis for many electrical machinery designs that followed.
Since the early days of electrical machinery invention, electric generators have been designed with the magnetic and induction components divided between rotating or rotor and stationary or stator sections of the machine. This traditional arrangement is used to create the required relative motion between the magnetic and induction components of the generator that is needed to create electromagnetic induction. However, this design also creates an unwanted magnetically induced motor reaction force resistance to input shaft rotation caused by magnetic interaction between the rotating and stationary elements of the generator.
The magnetic field or flux created during the electrical induction process opposes the change in magnetic field creating the induction and is known by Lenz's Law. This magnetic field condition within present generator design is created when an inductor creates an electric current, with the associated magnetic field, as a reaction to a changing magnetic field that is in relatively close proximity and in the proper orientation. This process inside the generator can create a situation that opposes rotation of the input shaft during electrical induction through magnetic resistance between the rotor and stator sections. This resistance to input shaft rotation is experienced by the source of rotational movement or “prime mover”. The prime mover needs to provide enough energy to rotate the mass of the generator's rotating components, to overcome any friction and air drag present in the machine, and to also overcome the electromagnetic opposition to rotation. More mechanical energy input needs to be applied to the rotating portion of a traditional generator as electrical load in a connected external circuit is increased.
A new generator design is needed to remove this unwanted resistance to input shaft rotation that is inherent in present generator design. Removing the unwanted motor reaction force from a generator's mechanical energy requirements allows for reduced motion source energy needed for the production of electricity.